What to Do This Weekend: Wright There in Wisconsin

The Milwaukee-area is all about Frank Lloyd Wright this month. Want to spend the day immersed in the iconic architect’s work and the night sleeping in a home he designed? That can be arranged…

By Catey Sullivan

Published March 7, 2011

Yeah, Wright

The Milwaukee-area is all about Frank Lloyd Wright this month. Want to spend the day immersed in the iconic architect’s work and the night sleeping in a home he designed? That can be arranged.

The art of architecture Visit the Milwaukee Art Museum though May 15th and you’ll find more than 150 objects designed by the iconic architect in the Baker/Rowland Galleries. “Frank Lloyd Wright: Organic Architecture for the 21st Century” features rarely-screened home movies of Wright and his family as well as 33 never-before-displayed drawings by the architect. Scale models, photographs, and furniture crafted by Wright are also on view. At 3 p.m. on Friday, March 11th, Wright’s grandson Thomas L. Wright will share memories of his summers at Taliesin (Wright’s home, studio, and school in Spring Green, Wisconsin) in the 1940s and talk about what it was like to live in the solar-powered “hemicycle home” his grandfather designed. At 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 12, the museum will host the Wright scholar Mark Hertzberg (author of Wright in Racine, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hardy House and Frank Lloyd Wright’s SC Johnson Research Tower), who will lecture about Wright’s work in Racine. Both talks are free with museum admission ($14).GOMilwaukee Art Museum, 700 N. Art Museum Dr.; 414-224-3200, mam.org.

Sleeping with Frank In Two Rivers, just over 90 miles north of Milwaukee, you can rent the Bernard Schwartz House, designed by Wright in the late 1930s as part of a Life magazine/Architectural Forum collaboration to create eight modern American “dream homes.” Wright christened the home (completed in 1940) “Still Bend,” for its proximity to a quiet, marshy stretch of the East Twin River. The four-bedroom house sleeps eight and is stocked with the amenities of a typical vacation rental (bath linens, kitchenware, books, DVDs, board games, Wi-Fi.) Rates range from $295 to $350 a night. Don’t want to stay overnight? The house is also open for tours ($10).GOThe Bernard Schwartz House, 3425 Adams St., Two Rivers; 651-231-5303, theschwartzhouse.com

Where to sleep: The Red Forest Bed and Breakfast (1421 25th St., Two Rivers; 888-250-2272, redforestbb.com) offers Victorian-era charm for $120 to $125 a night. In Milwaukee, the Pfister Hotel (424 E. Wisconsin Ave.; 800-558-8222, thepfisterhotel.com) boasts a marvelous collection of Victorian art, its own artist-in-residence, and poshly appointed rooms; rates start at $159.

Where to eat: In Two Rivers, Kurtz’s Contemporary Pub & Deli (1410 Washington St., Two Rivers; 920-793-1222) is renowned locally for its extensive beer menu and hearty pub fare. In Milwaukee, we like Sanford (1547 N. Jackson St.; 414-276-9608, sanfordrestaurant.com), a one-time grocery store that now offers fine dining and an ever-changing menu.